UPDATED: Public can weigh in on proposed Dignity Health-CHI hospital merger

Three public hearings are planned later this month on the proposed merger between two hospital chain heavyweights in Shasta and Tehama counties so the public and union members can weigh in with officials from the California Department of Justice.

The merger — between San Francisco-based Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, based in Englewood, Colorado — was proposed in December and would create a new company with operations spanning 16 states and including 136 hospitals.

The companies have said their merger would enable collaboration on programs and services, including telehealth programs to deliver medical care using technology, "micro-hospitals" that are smaller in size and therefore provide lower-cost medical care, and precision medicine, defined as healthcare that's customized for each patient.

Dignity is the parent of Mercy Medical Center Redding and Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta. St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff also is affiliated with the nonprofit hospital company, which operates 31 hospitals in California, five hospitals in Arizona and three hospitals in Nevada.

Dignity's nurses have expressed dissatisfaction with some provisions of the proposed merger.

At a hearing in Sacramento last month, members of California Nurses Association/National Nurses United expressed concern that the merger could lead to hospital closures or a reduction in services down the line. Four Dignity hospitals now operate in the Sacramento region.

In a filing made to California Justice officials on Aug. 13, Dignity indicated that no changes in operations are planned for its Sacramento-area hospitals should the merger be approved.

Commitments were given to keep many existing services — including specialty healthcare services and women's healthcare services — in place at Dignity's hospitals for five years.

Other services, including offering current levels of charity care adjusted for cost-of-living increases, would remain in place for six years, according to the filing prepared by independent healthcare consultants JD Healthcare, Inc. and Vizient, Inc.

California Department of Justice officials requested the study to assess the merger's impact on Dignity-affiliated hospitals in Sacramento County.

Some members of the California Nurses Association believe the pledges made so far by Dignity aren't enough.

"We are not opposed to the merger per se. We would like to see a commitment to keeping all the hospitals and services open for at least 15 years . . . so that these communities will have the services they need," said Kathy Dennis, a registered nurse at the Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento and a member of the board of directors of the nurses union.

The union also wants the California Attorney General to make sure that healthcare services at the hospitals remain, especially women's services.

"As you know, this is a merger between Dignity Health and CHI, which is a Catholic corporation," she said. "We really feel strongly about patient services and making sure they are still available, not only in the bigger communities like Sacramento but certainly the smaller communities like up North."

When it was founded in 1986, Dignity Health was known as Catholic Healthcare West. Renamed Dignity Health in 2012, the company is no longer a Catholic organization and includes both Catholic and non-Catholic hospitals, the report said.

CHI was formed in 1996 by the merger of three Catholic health systems, the report said.

The California Department of Justice called for hearings in Redding, Mt. Shasta and Red Bluff so members of the public can discuss the pending merger. A total of 17 impact hearings were scheduled to take place throughout California.

Dignity Health has moved the Redding meeting from Sept. 20 to Sept. 25.

Local hearings held by the California State Attorney General about the proposed Dignity-CHI merger will take place at these locations: